23rd April 2017 celebrates St.George’s day in the UK but it also sees the celebration of the 501st Anniversary of the Reinheitsgrebot (also known as the German Brewing Laws or German Purity Laws) which is the oldest piece of food and drink law in the world; dating right back to 1516. It states that only 4 ingredients may be used in the production of the beer; hops, malted barley, yeast and water. Therefore there are no additives or preservatives allowed to be added to the brew, ensuring the beer’s purity, taste and quality. This also means that the beers are suitable for vegetarians/vegans as there are no animal products used to ‘clear’ the brew.

Krombacher is the largest brewer in Germany, and is the biggest family owned and operated brewery within Europe. Their beers have been made exclusively in Krombach since 1803, and are produced in accordance with the German Beer Purity Law of 1516. Water is obtained from 48 wells, all within a 3km radius of the brewery, which is soft and low in mineral content making it perfect for brewing. Along with summer barley, Siegel hops and its own speciality cultivated yeast, it makes Krombacher beers be seen as the taste of its’ homeland.

It was first imported into the UK in 1987 and is growing in popularity here, where the range currently includes the Pilsner, Hell, Dark, Wizen, Radler, Low Alcoholic Pils and Low Alcohol Wizen. You can find Krombacher in pubs, bars, restaurants and hotels throughout the UK, as well as from Majestic Wines, Beers of Europe and Noble Green Wines. The low alcohol variations are also available from Dry Drinker.

Having been sent some of Krombacher’s beers and challenged to pair food or prepare a recipe to go with it, I created a deliciously rich, slow and succulent, beef shin cooked in their Dark beer recipe. A quick call to my local butcher on Friday to place an order for some beef shin to collect yesterday morning and I was set for the challenge to create this tasty dinner for my family. If you take the generic food groups, I almost managed to get this made with only 4 ingredients: vegetables, meat, grain and beer, along with a little bit of oil and some seasoning.

15ml rapeseed oil

2 sticks of celery, diced

2 medium onions, diced

2 medium carrots, diced

2 bay leaves

500g beef shin, cubed (ask you butcher to do this for you)

15ml / 1tbs plain flour

500ml Krombacher Dark beer

400g can chopped tomatoes

Salt & pepper to season

Heat the oven to 180℃.

In a large, hob/oven proof pan/casserole dish, add the oil and heat on the hob over a medium heat.

Add the celery, carrots, onion and bay leaves.

Stir and cook for 8-10 minutes until they’re just starting to soften but not colour.

Add the beef and evenly sprinkle over the flour.

Mix thoroughly to coat the meat and vegetables in the flour and to absorb any oil.

Add the bottle of beer and the chopped tomatoes, along with salt and pepper to season.

Stir to mix thoroughly then bring to the boil.

Cover with a lid and place the pan/casserole dish into the oven to cook for 3-3½ hours, removing the lid for the final 30 minutes if you need to reduce and thicken the sauce further.

One of the recipes I’m sharing with you using the deliciously nutty and seasonal Jersey Royal Potatoes in collaboration with Asda is for a vegetable curry. Inspired from a recipe my husband found online, he’s adapted and cooked this one for me (as I’m currently recovering from having knee surgery a couple of days ago, and therefore not able to stand for periods of time). Thanks Will x

The ingredients aren’t set in stone for this one; add or remove ingredients that you do or don’t like. (I personally don’t like mushrooms, but he does, so they went in and I picked them out of my dinner). The Mange Tout came from our garden, the French beans were reduced in price in our local supermarket as they had to be sold on the day, as was the courgette. All other ingredients we had at home as staples in our cupboards/fridge. It looks like a lot of ingredients, I know!

30ml Sunflower oil

2.5ml Black Mustard seeds

2.5ml Cumin seeds

2.5ml Fennel seeds

2.5ml Fenugreek seeds

3 Cardamon pods

1 medium Red onion, chopped

1 large White onion, chopped

3 sticks Celery, diced

2 medium carrots, diced

2.5cm fresh Ginger, grated

5 cloves Garlic, crushed

5ml Salt

Medium sweet potato, cubed

10-12 Jersey Royals, cubed

5ml Chilli powder

5ml Turmeric

5ml Cumin

5ml ground Coriander

1 whole Chilli, finely chopped

handful of French Beans, sliced in half horizontally

8-10 Mange Tout, sliced in half horizontally

1 cup frozen Peas

1 medium Courgette, diced

50g button Mushrooms, halved

Can coconut milk

Fresh coriander, chopped.

Prepare all your vegetables as above. You can keep the following together in bowls as they’ll be added to the curry together in batches:

Red and white onions.

Celery and carrots.

Sweet potato and Jersey Royals.

French beans and mange tout.

Peas and courgettes.

Mushrooms.

(This is how my husband preps his ingredients to cook – I have to leave the kitchen; it’s all too much organisation for me!)

2. In a large saucepan/frying pan with a lid, heat the oil and add your mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds and cardamon pods. Cook for 2-3 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse the oil. The seeds may start to pop as they cook, don’t worry, this is normal.

3. Add the celery and the carrots, stir to coat evenly in the spiced oil and cook on a medium heat for 2-3 minutes.

My other recipe using Jersey Royal potatoes is more of a traditional one. For this one, they’re gently boiled and then roasted to perfection, served with Chantenay carrots and deliciously lean New Zealand lamb leg steaks, slowly cooked in a rich Barolo red wine and mint sauce.

1 lemon, zest & juice

1 lamb leg steak per person

10ml Rapeseed oil

2 Red onions, chopped finely

10ml Plain flour

15ml Mint sauce concentrate

250ml Barolo red wine

100ml Vegetable stock

Bay leaf

Salt & pepper to taste

Rapeseed oil sufficient to roast the potatoes

Jersey Royal potatoes

Chantenay carrots

Broccoli

Zest the lemon and squeeze the lemon juice over the lamb steaks. Toss to coat, cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours to start to tenderise the meat.

Heat the oven to 180℃/160℃ fan.

In a large ovenproof pan (with a lid), heat the oil and fry the onions gently until transparent.

Turn up the heat and fry the lamb leg steaks until browned on both sides. Remove the lamb to a plate to keep warm.

Evenly sprinkle the flour over the onions and oil and mix thoroughly to a paste (no floury lumps).

I’m home from another fantastic day at the BBC Good Food Show in Birmingham. Today was day one of the show which runs for four days until Sunday 19th June, so there’s still plenty of time to book your tickets online, or alternatively, you can just turn up and pay your admission fee to gain entry. However, if you pre-book your tickets online and use my code BL20, you can grab yourself a cool 20% off your admission price! That’ll give you even more money to spend on delicious produce.

As it’s the summer show it’s also the BBC Gardner’s World Live show too, so there’s a huge amount to see outdoors in the way of plants, furniture, exhibitions etc. My fave was this lovely girl that I saw beside the path on my way back to the car.

I’ve spent the day walking, eating, drinking, chatting, watching chefs (& friends) on stage, not to mention cuddling these two fantastic Italian Chefs and have brought home a whole cacophony of goodies with me.

Lexus UK are once again sponsoring the show, and I watched a good friend of mine, Julie demonstrate her cupcake decorating skills with Marcus Bean on the Lexus stage.

I’ve met some really lovely food producers who are all incredibly passionate about their products (and rightly so too!) My haul includes:

The ever delicious gluten free sauces from Debbie & Andrews. You can find them on stand F685. I came home with Sweet Chilli and Chicken & Mango flavours.

I can’t wait to get cooking a delicious tagine with the gluten free Harissa Sauce and a delicious pasta dish with the Pesto sauce from Taste Collectiv. Go and say hello to Mark & Victoria on stand F181, and treat yourself to their range of 5 sauces.

I’ve got delicious and fresh tasting Aloe Vera drinks from Grace Aloe Vera on stand F110, (to which I have to admit I was really pleasantly surprised about; not just on the flavoured versions but on the original flavoured ones too).

My mouth was on fire with the Chilli Fudge from Tan Rosie. Who knew you could use scotch bonnet chillies in fudge? Their family recipes are inspired from their heritage in Grenada and Carriacou. Go and find them on stand F632 if you dare…! HAHA!

I wasn’t brave enough to try the Fire Candy from the lovely guys at the Black Liquorice Company – but I dare you to try some yourself! Their flavoured liquorices are delicious though. You’ll find them on F195.

Who knew that you could make a pestle & mortar out of Himalayan Salt, let alone cook on it or build a wall from it? Visit the Salt House on stand F302 to find out more on this one.

I tasted a lovely variety of oils, balsamic vinegars and grape musts from Casa de l’Oli. I think my favourite one was the 5 year old Blanco Balsamic vinegar, teamed up with their lime olive oil.

I bought home some delicious coffee fudge from the Fudge Kitchen (but it’s all gone now as it didn’t last long with my husband and daughter to share it with!). They have lots of different flavours to choose from over on stand F179. (Nice sash by the way!)

For lunch I enjoyed a gluten free Chicken Italia burger from Heck Sausages (stand F97), whilst to follow I bought a deliciously creamy coffee ice cream from the Salome Dairy (stand F916) which just filled the last little space I had left. (Sorry, no photos here – I was hungry!)

I also came home with a bottle of locally (Northamptonshire) produced rhubarb gin from my favourites and the multi award winning Warner Edwards (stand F460)

As well as the most beautiful new apron from my favourite knife manufacturer I.O. Shen Knives who you can find on F682. How beautifully does this go with my blade tattooed knives? I’ve already been told this is a ‘Man Apron’ and therefore has been bagged by my husband for himself! Thanks Nat x.

If you like peanut butter, then you’ll love these guys over at Proper Nutty Butter. Produced in Yorkshire with ‘Nowt but Nuts’ and love! You’ll find them on stand F638

I wish I could go back every day for the next three days of the show, as there is so much more I’d love to share with you, however, I’m having knee surgery tomorrow morning and have to be in hospital at 7am, so sadly only one day at the show for me this year.

If you’re going to the show over the next few days, have a wonderful time. I wish all the exhibitors and organisers a successful show and hope the visitors have an amazing time too. See you all for the Winter show in November.

As an official BBC Good Food Show blogger, I am provided with free entry into the show. Some of the samples detailed above were provided to me free of charge by the exhibitors to try and review – thanks to those who continue to support me and my blog.